The Court of Honor of the Union of Russian students-emigres in Poland

For the first time in the historiography, the article aims to analyze the genesis, specificity and activity of a body of corporate justice - the Court of Honor of the Union of Russian students-emigres in Poland (URSE) based on the unpublished documents stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation in the collections of the former Prague Archive. The archival sources show that students of URSE independently elected judges for a certain period, which demonstrates the democratic principle of the Court election. The Court hearings followed the same rules as in any state of law. The cases were heard on the basis of transparency, competitiveness and equality of parties. The students took part in the Court's sessions. This was supposed to ensure the fairness of the verdicts. The Court had significant rights: it could appoint a preliminary inquiry and examine the witnesses. But the Court's decisions were not a subject to appeal, which limited the students' rights and could provoke the arbitrariness of judges. The irremovability of judges principle was not observed, which enabled the corporation to control the activity of the Court and put the Court in reliance on the opinions of the majority of its members. The bulk of the cases were due to minor household thefts, mostly in the student dormitory. Thefts were determined by the difficult material conditions of life of Russian students-emigres in Poland and their moral decay as a result of the adverse moral and psychological climate, which was a reality for the Russian Diaspora during the times of interwar Poland. The special features of the Court of Honor included its rights to examine ethical cases and cases about the violation of student traditions and corporate honor. The activity of the Court had a positive significance for Russian students, because the Court could consider controversial issues and conflicts that arose between the URSE members, the URSE members and third persons in case of their consent, which prevented publicizing of the negative phenomena within the student association and, ultimately, it positively reflected on the image of Russian students. The existence of the Court of Honor allowed students to avoid turning to the Polish authorities when a minor criminal offence against them took place and there was a suspect. Students felt more comfortable psychologically looking for justice together with compatriots and colleagues, it gave the impression of solidarity and security. But punishments were psychologically painful as they were imposed on behalf of the student community and could cause the loss of support of the student organization. The Court of Honor helped to maintain order, helped in the purification of the student corporation from people with unlawful and immoral behavior; it had a positive effect on the moral image of Russian students in Poland.

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